Hongjie Shen, Ph.D.

Education

• 2009.9-2015.6 Ph.D., Institutes of biomedical sciences, Fudan University, China

• 2005.9-2009.6 B.S., School of life science, Sichuan University, China

Work experience

• 2018.9-Now PI, Institutes of biomedical sciences, Fudan University, China

• 2016.1-2018.7 Postdoctor, Institutes of biomedical sciences, Fudan University, China

Contact

Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032 Tel: +86-021-54237876

Email: hongjieshen@fudan.edu.cn

Biography

Hongjie Shen is a Principal Investigator of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University. Hongjie Shen received his B.S. degree from Sichuan University in 2009. After graduation, Hongjie joined Epigenetics laboratory at Fudan University and completed the Ph.D. and postdoctoral training, where he focused on elucidating the functions of epigenetic modifiers. He uncovered a very exciting and important role for RACK7 as an enhancer “brake” with Drs. Fei Lan and Yang Shi (Cell, 2016). In 2018, Hongjie took the faculty position at Fudan University and established a research laboratory aiming to elucidate the roles of RNA/RNA modifications in chromatin. He identified a new role of RNA m⁶A modification in heterochromatin in collaboration with Dr. Yang Shi (Nature, 2021). He also identified the role of RNA m⁶A modification in nascent RNA synthesis in collaboration with Drs. Yang Shi, Fei Lan and Karen Adelman (Mol Cell, 2022). Now, Hongjie aims to discover and understand the epigenetic mechanisms during early embryonic development and disease progress.

Research Areas

The research goal of our lab is to discover and understand the epigenetic mechanisms during early embryonic development and disease progress.

Research interest

• The chromatin regulation of RNA modifications and RNA binding proteins.

• The discoveries of novel epigenetic modifications and regulators.

Selected Publications

1. Wenqi Xu, Jiahui Li, Chenxi He, Jing Wen, Honghui Ma, Bowen Rong, Jianbo Diao, Liyong Wang, Jiahua Wang, Feizhen Wu, Li Tan, Yujiang Geno Shi, Yang Shi*, Hongjie Shen*, METTL3 regulates heterochromatin in mouse embryonic stem cells, Nature. 2021 Mar;591(7849):317-321.

2. Wenqi Xu#, Chenxi He#, Emily G. Kaye, Jiahui Li, Mandi Mu, Geoffrey M. Nelson, Li Dong, Jiahua Wang, Feizhen Wu, Yujiang Geno Shi, Karen Adelman*, Fei Lan*, Yang Shi* and Hongjie Shen*, Dynamic Control of Chromatin-associated m6A Methylation Regulates Nascent RNA Synthesis, Mol Cell, 2022 Mar 17;82(6):1156-1168.e7.

3. Hongjie Shen#, Wenqi Xu#, Rui Guo, Bowen Rong, Lei Gu, Zhentian Wang, Chenxi He, Lijuan Zheng, Xin Hu, Zhen Hu, Zhi-Ming Shao, Pengyuan Yang, Feizhen Wu, Yujiang Geno Shi, Yang Shi*, Fei Lan*, Suppression of Enhancer Overactivation by a RACK7-Histone Demethylase Complex, Cell, 2016, 165(2):331-342.

4. Wenqi Xu#, Jiahui Li#, Bowen Rong#, Bin Zhao, Mei Wang, Ruofei Dai, Qilong Chen, Hang Liu, Zhongkai Gu, Shuxian Liu, Rui Guo, Hongjie Shen*, Feizhen Wu*, Fei Lan*; DNMT3A reads and connects histone H3K36me2 to DNA methylation. Protein Cell. 2020 Feb;11(2):150-154. 

5. Jiahua Wang#, Liyong Wang#, Jianbo Diao, Yujiang Geno Shi, Yang Shi*, Honghui Ma*, Hongjie Shen*, Binding to m6A RNA promotes YTHDF2-mediated phase separation. Protein Cell. 2020 Apr;11(4):304-307.

6. Wenqi Xu, Hongjie Shen*, When RNA methylation meets DNA methylation. Nat Genet. 2022 Sep 7. doi: 10.1038/s41588-022-01166-0. Online ahead of print.

7. Hongjie Shen#, Wenqi Xu#, Fei Lan*. Histone lysine demethylases in mammalian embryonic development. Exp Mol Med. 2017 Apr 28;49(4):e325.

8. Fangfang Jiao#, Ze Li#, Chen He, Wenqi Xu, Gensheng Yang, Tingting Liu, Hongjie Shen, Jiajun Cai, Jamie N Anastas, Ying Mao, Yongchun Yu, Fei Lan, Yujiang Geno Shi, Chris Jones, Yanhui Xu, Suzanne J Baker*, Yang Shi*, Rui Guo*. RACK7 recognizes H3.3G34R mutation to suppress expression of MHC class II complex components and their delivery pathway in pediatric glioblastoma. Sci Adv. 2020 Jul 17;6(29):eaba2113.

9. Xi Jin, Xiao-En Xu, Yi-Zhou Jiang, Yi-Rong Liu, Wei Sun, Ya-Jie Guo, Yi-Xing Ren, Wen-Jia Zuo, Xin Hu, Sheng-Lin Huang, Hong-Jie Shen, Fei Lan, Yun-Fei He, Guo-Hong Hu, Gen-Hong Di, Xiang-Huo He, Da-Qiang Li, Suling Liu, Ke-Da Yu, Zhi-Ming Shao*. The endogenous retrovirus-derived long noncoding RNA TROJAN promotes triple-negative breast cancer progression via ZMYND8 degradation. Sci Adv. 2019 Mar 6;5(3):eaat9820.

10. Hao Cheng, Hongwen Xuan, Christopher D Green, Yixing Han, Na Sun, Hongjie Shen, Joseph McDermott, David A Bennett, Fei Lan, Jing-Dong J Han*. Repression of human and mouse brain inflammaging transcriptome by broad gene-body histone hyperacetylation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Jul 17;115(29):7611-7616.

11. Yi-Zi Zheng, Meng-Zhu Xue, Hong-Jie Shen, Xiao-Guang Li, Ding Ma, Yue Gong, Yi-Rong Liu, Feng Qiao, Hong-Yan Xie, Bi Lian, Wei-Li Sun, Hai-Yun Zhao, Ling Yao, Wen-Jia Zuo, Da-Qiang Li, Peng Wang, Xin Hu*, Zhi-Ming Shao*. PHF5A Epigenetically Inhibits Apoptosis to Promote Breast Cancer Progression. Cancer Res. 2018 Jun 15;78(12):3190-3206.

12. Jing Wen#, Ruitu Lv#, Honghui Ma#, Hongjie Shen, Chenxi He, Jiahua Wang, Fangfang Jiao, Hang Liu, Pengyuan Yang, Li Tan, Fei Lan, Yujiang Geno Shi, Chuan He*, Yang Shi*, Jianbo Diao*, Zc3h13 Regulates Nuclear RNA m6A Methylation and Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Self-Renewal. Mol Cell. 2018 Mar 15;69(6):1028-1038.

13. Na Li, Yuanyuan Li, Jie Lv, Xiangdong Zheng, Hong Wen, Hongjie Shen, Guangjing Zhu, Tsai-Yu Chen, Shilpa S Dhar, Pu-Yeh Kan, Zhibin Wang, Ramin Shiekhattar, Xiaobing Shi, Fei Lan, Kaifu Chen, Wei Li, Haitao Li, Min Gyu Lee. ZMYND8 Reads the Dual Histone Mark H3K4me1-H3K14ac to Antagonize the Expression of Metastasis-Linked Genes. Mol Cell. 2016 Aug 4;63(3):470-84.